We (Randy, Alejandro and I) left eastward that Tuesday morning. Our first target of the day was the ancient ruined city of Sardis. This was one of the great cities of antiquity, the capital of Lydia and one of the seven churches of Asia mentioned in the Bible, but is now not on the tourist track as it is a bit out of the way and time has passed it by. We found the place with ease and went first, as recommended by John Ash, to the Temple of Artemis. Naturally, no one else was there. This spectacular ruin is beautifully situated and has not suffered the over renovation that the other notable structures of Sardis have underwent. We enjoyed the architecture and the atmosphere although the weather was extremely hot.
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| Sardis is worth visiting if you are in west central Turkey |
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| Alejandro at the ruins of the Temple of Artemis |
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| Parts of the columns of the ruined temple |
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| A selfie at the Sardis Temple of Artemis |
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| Some of the excellent stone and brick work | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
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| Column carving detail - what elegance! |
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| Randy waves from a part of the temple which is impressive with some of its upright column |
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| Randy with the Sardis Temple of Artemis - note the unpeopled and attractive landscape | | |
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| The guys view the stonework | | | | |
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| Corner of a restored (or replicated) building near the Temple of Artemis |
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| Detail of the painting - this was located in an off limits area of the active dig - a guard accompanied us to make sure we didn't stray to the forbidden area |
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| The very cool big head fragment in the forbidden area of the dig headquarters at Sardis |
We then drove through the modern village of Sart to the other side of the big road to see the rest of the city. The main two attractions are the huge gymnasium and the interesting synagogue. John Ash detests the "Disney" like restoration of the latter but it is interesting and has some beautiful carvings (see photos).
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| Columned street at Sardis |
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| The splendid (and quite restored) gymnasium of Sardis |
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| The Greek inscriptions on the gymnasium |
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| Restored mosaic floor in the Sardis synagogue |
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| Winged lion in the synagogue |
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| One of two fat eagles located on either side of the synagogue altar | |
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| Selfie from the synagogue looking to the gymnasium |
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| The altar with the eagles on either side |
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| The "Disney" like restoration of the wall marble decorations in the synagogue |
We tried to find some mounds or tumuli (ancient burials) that are supposedly within a half hour of Sardis but could not locate them. Giving up, we headed southward towards Denizli. A brown sign pointed to the church of Philadelphia, another of the seven churches of Asia, and we searched the modern town of Alasehir and could not find it. Apparently the ruins are hidden within the center city structures and need to be sought after on foot. In any case, we saw no nearby parking. Our final historic site of the day was a random stop at Tripolis. This is being newly excavated and was pretty interesting given its obscurity (in no guidebook I have read). We were stopped from fully enjoying this find by the unbelievable heat.
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| The little know site of Tripolis - quite interesting and very close to the main road |
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| Alejandro and Randy wander this unexpected site, not in any of our guidebooks |
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| Older columns were upended and used as building materials in later walls |
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| A very nice colonnaded street |
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| It was bitchin hot when we stopped by at Tripolis - Alejandro also walked to the top of the hill for a quick look at the theater but reported there was little to see - Randy and I rested in the air conditioned car and drank lots of water |
In very late afternoon we arrived at the apartment of former student Elif Ozgormus and her mother in the city of Denizli. They had prepared a lunch, for which we were way too late, but we ate some of it as a "snack." Glad we did as our dinner that night (included at the hotel) was not so wonderful. Elif took us to her university, Pamukkale University, which has a very nice campus and then we drove the half hour or so to Pamukkale, a huge tourist town. Our lodging the
Colossae Hotel that night was a bit tired and full of Asian bus tours but the pool was spectacular. We cooled off in the early evening and enjoyed the clean air and crisp skies.
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| Casa Ozgormus on the second floor of a modern block in Denizli |
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| Elif and her mom welcomed us with a tasty very late lunch |
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| Turkish borek, green beans and more were all delicious |
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| Sweet Lokum, Elif's rescue cat from Bilkent, is now totally spoiled |
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| The awesome hotel pool refreshed us from the strenuous and hot day |
The next day, Elif took us to Pamukkale. This place is a natural wonder of calcium carbonate (travertine) spilling over a large hillside with intermittent pools. Randy and I had seen it before and were not big fans. However, it was a must see for Alejandro. Before getting to the pools, we took a very efficient tour of Hierapolis. This city was also very large and is pretty well preserved. A mini-bus took us to the most important sights including the little visited Tomb of Saint Philip. The best part was the almost intact theater. We paid our respects to the natural aspects of Pamukkale briefly and said a grateful goodbye to Elif.
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| Alejandro with some of the travertine of Pamukkale |
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| Selfie at Hierapolis |
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| It was very hot and we were lucky that Elif arranged for minibus transport for us between the major sights of Hierapolis, which is very large and on hilly terrain |
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| A column top retains its excellent carvings |
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| Alejandro and Elif with our minibus in the background at the first stop |
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| The church, in a more remote little visited part of Hierapolis, honoring the martyrdom of St. Philip |
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| We only had a few minutes at this interesting part of Hierapolis but it was worth visiting |
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| An ancient cross in the church walls |
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| At the octagon Byzantine church to honor St. Philip |
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| This more ancient church is located down the hill from the Byzantine structure |
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| Probably the tomb of St. Philip. There was an active team of archaeologists there when we visited |
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| Alejandro at the older church and tomb |
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| The well preserved theater of Hierapolis was our third and last stop |
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| As you can see, the theater is situated on relatively high ground |
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| Panorama of the fantastic theater |
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| Selfie |
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| We were hot and fatigued already by the heat and inclines |
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| Alejandro was glad he had a chance to see the famed travertine pools of Pamukkale - full of tourists particularly Asian |
We drove eastward towards Isparta and Lake Egirdir, one of our favorite spots in Turkey. Egirdir is a town on a breathtaking lake surrounded by mountains. There, we stay in Yesilada, a small island connected by an isthmus to the mainland. This island has assorted old houses, a closed Greek church, some small hotels and pensions, and a string of fish restaurants along the shore. The entire island can be walked around in about 15 to 20 minutes. It is a unique and ideal spot which is very little visited by any tourist, especially non-Turkish. We normally visit Gultekin Ozdemir and family when we travel to this area but they were vacationing at Kusadesi and we saw them in Izmir. Gultekin had arranged for his student, Onur Olgun, to serve as guide and aid during our stay in Egirdir.
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| The beauty of Lake Egirdir |
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| A backstreet near our hotel (Merci) in Yesilada |
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| The abandoned Greek church on Yesilada |
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| Next time I want to take a boat ride in the lake! |
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| Stone building detail - Yesilada |
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| A local resident chills out in Yesilada |
Our main target for sightseeing was Adada, an ancient Pisidiean city located about an hour south of Egirdir. We had viewed the other Pisidean cities of Sagalassos, Pisidean Antioch, Cremna and Termessus on previous trips and loved all of them and were anxious to see this last Pisidean city ruin. This site was recommended by John Ash especially for its remote and beautiful location. After viewing Lake Egirdir from the scenic outlook, we found the road to Adada and enjoyed the scenic drive.
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| Friendly student Onur from the Suleyman Demirel University in Isparta at the overlook with Lake Egirdir and Yesilada in the background |
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| Yesilada from the vantage point - what a unique place - visit it if you are in Turkey! |
Adada is an interesting ruin. A road cuts the ruins into two and there are quite a few structures to view. Of course, no one was there. Easily the most memorable aspect of Adada is its small but nearly intact theater. This theater is nestled in a hillside just waiting for a performance. It was so atmospheric to sit there and muse on the ancient peoples who lived there a few thousand years ago.
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| A friendly guard greeted us (no fee of course) but was gone before we finished due to the late afternoon hour |
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| These building walls have been standing unimproved for nearly 2000 years |
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| In the doorway of one of the temples of Adada |
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| Onur had never visited Adada before |
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| At the forgotten but nearly perfect theater of Adada |
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| What a surprise in this remote field! |
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| In the setting sun, the intact Adada theater |
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| Walking through the brush (no trails here!) in the temple district |
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| Building detail |
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| Selfie at Adada - this little known site is definitely worth a visit of an hour or two |
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| Onur soaks up the atmosphere of long dead Pisideans |
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| Randy rests at the guardian spot since the guardian had left for the day |
We drove to the next town south, Sutculer, to check it out and drank tea / mineral water at a small and dilapidated hotel. Heading back to Yesilada we enjoyed dinner at the Melodi restaurant on the shore. The lake fish and Efes beer capped a great day of travel and ruins hunting.
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| This town is sprawled over some pretty steep hillsides |
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| Our beloved Nissan Qashqai was luxurious and utilitarian at the same time |
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| We mistakenly but happily took the "old road" back to Egirdir and encountered a village man herding his goats home for the night |
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| Recommended for fish in Yesilada (and you can drink alcohol here!) |
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| At the dinner table waiting for Efes and fish |
After breakfast at the Merci's top floor restaurant which has spectacular views of the lakes and mountains, we headed for Cappadocia. Our first stop was the Kudret Han, which was hidden off of the road in a semi-rural environment. This han has been overly restored but no one visits as evidenced by the weeds and wild appearance of the immediate surroundings. The han was locked so we could not venture inside but were happy we made this short detour to see the exterior.
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| About 20 minutes off of the main road but a little challenging to find in a warren of small streets and rural homes |
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| Alejandro at the very restored han - note the weeds - clearly hardly anyone visits despite the efforts at restoration |
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| Kudret Han - sadly kept locked |
Traveling along the east side of Lake Egirdir we went inland to see some Hittite sights. The first one was Eflatunpinar, a sacred spring named for Plato who had nothing to do with the site. This was located off of the main road but was findable with the aid of the brown cultural site signs. These carvings are nearly 3000 years old and the spring is still active. It is a lonely spot in a plain but very evocative of those long gone Hittites.
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| I thought this would be worth seeing and it definitely was |
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| The main carvings at the sacred spring - standing in situ for nearly 3000 years |
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| A bonus find of three fine bulls stands guard |
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| Some carving detail - faded but still quite discernible |
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| View of Eflatunpinar - deserted, of course, but a village woman hurried out and sold us some hand knit items |
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| Really glad we stopped there! |
Next, we stopped at Beysehir, a small city on the huge Lake Beysehir. John Ash recommends this town and its location on the large lake is pretty, but it did not otherwise look particularly appealing. Our first stop was the Esrefoglu Mosque. This Selcuk treasure is notable for its entrance carvings and interior woodwork especially. It is a "forest" mosque with large wooden columns painted very well.
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| The most notable historic attraction of Beysehir |
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| This vendor lady wrapped me up for the visit inside and we bought a few small things from her afterwards as a thank you |
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| The impressive carved entrance to the mosque |
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| The carved columns are from the 1200's and restored painting is well done |
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| The mithrab of the mosque is also magnificant |
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| Details of the tile work of an interior doorway |
We ate lunch at a restaurant along Lake Beysehir in the city center then headed to our next goal - Fasillar and a Roman grave, located close to each other. We found the village (also called Fasillar) down a stretch of unpaved road. I used my bad Turkish to ask a village man where these treasures were located as we found no brown signs. I was able to understand enough of his answer to get us on the hillside gravel road leading to these relics. They are wonderful! The Hittite carving lies where it was dragged some 3000 years ago. Apparently designed for Eflatunpinar but never moved much beyond where it was quarried and carved. This is one antiquity where a replica is in the museum (in Ankara, found later in this blog) and the actual is in situ. Across the hillside are some rock tombs - unremarkable except for one carved exceptionally well with a huge horse. This commemorates the death of a young man, presumably a horseman or horse aficionado, some 2000 years ago. Even at this remote time, the Hittite carving lying on the hillside was 1000 years old. Randy especially marveled at this aspect of these little visited treasures in a very remote village.
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| Our lunch spot in Beysehir - the welcoming chef is a little freaky but friendly enough |
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| The guys had doner while I ate salad |
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| The Hittite site of Fasillar, presumably so named because of the village name |
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| Alejandro was the first to climb up to the fallen statute |
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| I so wanted to see this and it was, again, well worthwhile |
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| The reclining statue - a god astride two lions |
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| From a distance - the statue is massive (8 meters long) and so heavy (70 tons) it could not be moved without damaging it. While viewing it in situ is so cool, it is clearly totally exposed to the elements and to any human action |
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| The Lukyanus Roman tomb across the hill |
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| The horse is 10 meters high |
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| Carving detail |
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| Alejandro gives scale to the horse as it guards the tomb of the long dead young man |
We tried to push on to Cappadocia but were challenged by a bridge closure and went around in circles on the small rural roads for about 30 minutes before I asked a road worker about the road back to Beysehir. He sent us on a gravel road along a canal with rushing water for about 30 kilometers and picked up the road to Aksaray just outside of Beysehir. By then, we were running very late and could not stop at any further sights until we reached Goreme, in central Cappadocia. We arrived in an unexpected rain storm but Alejandro was able to snap a few photos of a rare rainbow over the unique landscape. We checked into the comfortable cave hotel of
Kelebek and drank up some red wine while watching the dusk in the garden. We then walked downhill to the town center and ate a casual but fairly good place. We started outside but another round of rain drove us inside where we sat at traditional Ottoman pillows with a low table. We all slept well in the dark and quiet of our cave rooms, Alejandro's in the pinnacle of a "fairy chimney."
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| The very full canal. We had a tough time crossing it as the bridge we were directed to by the GPS was closed for construction |
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| Rainbow over Uchisar in Cappadocia |
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| Our dinner place - not exceptional but well priced and delicious enough |
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| Finding alcohol is Cappadocia is easy because there are so many European, Australian and even U.S. tourists |
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| We moved inside to an Ottoman style dinning area when the rain started again - we were eating pide - for a skinny guy, Alejandro eats a lot :-) | |
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| A selfie in Goreme - happy to be back in one of our favorite Turkish places! |
The next morning we signed up for the "organic breakfast." This takes place at the family cave home / small farm of the hotel owner, Ali. Loading on a tractor driven wagon, we drove while Ali explained about life in Cappadocia before the tourist boom which started in the 1970's. The location was beautiful and it was a convivial group of visitors from Australia, France and New Zealand. After walking up from the valley home, we rejoined the wagon and returned to the
Kelebek where we reluctantly checked out (lucky Alejandro was staying for two more days).
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| Our room for the night - comfortable and very well priced at 70 Euro |
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| The entrance to our room in the cave hotel - originally villager cave homes |
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| Our large Queen sized bed |
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| A very cool traditional area in our room might have been a bed area originally |
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| View from the Kelebek in the morning |
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| From the restaurant / terrace area where I had first breakfast - the cone in the foreground housed Alejandro's room for the night |
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| On the wagon to the family farm |
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| View just outside of Goreme |
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| Kelebek founder and owner explains about the region and his passion for sharing the unique culture of Cappadocia |
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| Stairs cut into the tufa helped our group get into the valley where the family farm is situated | |
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| The alternatively friendly and ferocious Kangal dog at the farm |
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| There were fowl there too |
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| And a flock of geese |
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| The dog again - kangal dogs are genetically bred to take care of the flocks |
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| Ali is restoring the traditional pigeon roosts in the tufa. Earlier, the pigeons were encouraged to live in these houses and then their droppings were gathered for fertilizer. Ali wants to return to those days and rid the area of the dependence on chemical fertilizers. |
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| The table set for breakfast | |
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| My second breakfast |
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| Part of the family home being expanded, improved and restored - I wanted to stay there for a day or two and relax in this unique place. Note the beautiful carpet - typical of Cappadocian carpets |
Randy and I drove the good road to Ankara and checked into our hotel -
Bilkent University Hotel and Conference Center - where we had a very comfortable (king pillow top bed) room. We arrived in a huge rain storm, a very unusual occurrence for Ankara at this time of the year. We were ready to begin the next chapter of our Turkey trip.
